Abstract This article argues the need for complementarity between emergency and structuring international cooperation in scenarios of health crises in developing countries. Through a review of contemporary literature and document analysis, it analyzes some aspects of the performance of global and Latin American institutions in the Covid-19 pandemic in light of this argument. It also makes a brief survey of forms of international cooperation that emerge from Brazil, with BRICS and Latin American partners, to fight the pandemic, which have a local and sectoral character: paradiplomacy, structuring networks and the role of local agents and health experts.

Resumo Os benefícios da avaliação empírica da Cooperação Sul-Sul (CSS) são atualmente debatidos na literatura crítica sobre o assunto. Essa avaliação poderia diferenciar as práticas de CSS de outras práticas de cooperação e aumentar sua transparência, controle social e credibilidade. Nesse sentido, este artigo avalia teoricamente o potencial dialógico/decolonial da cooperação estruturante em saúde (CS), modelo de CSS criado pelo Brasil, e analisa a aplicabilidade de diferentes heurísticas para acordos internacionais e projetos interinstitucionais para avaliar empiricamente esse potencial. Teoricamente, a narrativa SCH é compatível com a literatura decolonial mencionada neste artigo. Empiricamente, porém, os estudos de caso das áreas de Relações Internacionais (RI) e Saúde Global divergem. No entanto, existem heurísticas do campo do Direito Internacional e estudos de Transferência de Políticas que podem ajudar a reconhecer o potencial decolonial inscrito nos acordos internacionais. Para avançar na avaliação do caráter dialógico da HSC por meio de projetos, este artigo conclui que, institucionalmente, é necessário definir as categorias neles inscritas e tornar públicos seus relatórios de monitoramento e avaliação, e que, academicamente, a área de RI precisa absorver o conhecimento do setor de saúde e de seus técnicos, o que não acontece na América Latina, pois o interesse por esse setor é baixo.

Abstract The benefits of an empirical assessment of South-South cooperation (SSC) are currently being debated in the critical literature on this subject. This assessment could distinguish SSC practices from other cooperation practices and increase its transparency, social control, and credibility. In this sense, this paper theoretically assesses the dialogical/decolonial potential of structuring cooperation in health (SCH), a model of SSC created by Brazil; and analyses the applicability of different heuristics for international agreements and interinstitutional projects to empirically assess this potential. In theory, the SCH narrative is compatible with the decolonial literature mentioned in this paper. However, case studies from the fields of International Relations (IR) and Global Health diverge about this compatibility based on empirical observation. Nonetheless, heuristics from the field of International Law and Policy Transfer studies can help to recognize the decolonial potential inscribed in international agreements. In order to advance in the assessment of the dialogic character of SCH through projects, this paper argues that, institutionally, it is necessary to define the categories inscribed in them and make their monitoring and evaluation reports public. It concludes that the IR field needs to absorb the knowledge from the health sector and its technicians – something that does not occur in Latin America given the low interest in this sector.